Saturday, December 31, 2011

Rework on loft railing- it failed the quality check

After a quick trip to Lowe's to get more spindles this morning, a return trip to the cabin to continue the loft rail work. It was 55 degrees inside which was pretty warm since it was only 45 outside and had got down to 40 during the night. Beulah must have had it pretty warm most of the night to hold the heat.

Upon arrival, there were 4 squirrels enjoying the re-filled feeders. Big Ninja squirrel wasn't with them. He was probably curled up in a fetal position sleeping off yesterday's feast. Won't take these guys long to go through 50 lb of food; everyone is inviting friends over to dine.

The big guy wasn't happy with the spindles installed yesterday so we had to take them back down and replace them. This time, custom cut the new ones and drilled counter-sink holes to conceal the wood screws with oak button caps. Finished installing all the spindles on the 12' side of the loft. Well, with 6 feet reserved for the metal art; actually only installed 10 to fill the 3 foot sections on each end. The biggest challenge was cutting the angles and fitting the railing and toe board beside the ladder. After a few mistakes, finally cut precision pieces that fit exactly between the post and the ceiling. Legs gave out from going up and down the ladder so unfortunately didn't get the spindles cut/installed in this section. Each spindle has to be custom cut due to the ascending run and ceiling angle.

Beulah was good and hot so she made a pot of coffee and cooked clam chowder for lunch. Maybe tomorrow we'll finish the last of the spindles and apply the final coat of stain before sealing it all with semi-gloss poly seal.